Exploring Horsethief Butte, a rocky adventure millions of years in the making
Author: Jon Goodwin for KGW8 Horsethief Butte, part of Columbia Hills Historical State Park, is a rocky labyrinth of towering basalt formations, winding trails and unexpected views. It’s a place where the landscape tells a story millions of years in the making. The butte was formed by ancient lava flows and later shaped by the massive Ice Age floods that swept through the Columbia River Gorge. Today, its unusual rock formations make it a popular destination for hikers, photographers and rock climbers. As I was arriving, I crossed paths with Susan Sieglein, visiting from Annapolis, Maryland. She was just finishing her exploration of the butte. “I love geology. I love the rock formations,” she said. And there’s certainly no shortage of those here. “You get little glimpses of Mount Hood and the Columbia River, as you go around different turns,” Sieglein said. “It’s like a labyrinth inside.” The trails around Horsethief Butte are relatively short, but they offer plenty of opportunities to explore. Visitors can wind between imposing rock walls, navigate narrow passages and scramble over rocks for a different perspective of the surrounding landscape. A closer look at some of those rocks reveals another piece of the area’s geological history. Vesicular basalt, commonly found throughout the Gorge, is dotted with small holes created by gas bubbles trapped in molten lava as it cooled and hardened. Millions of years later, those bubbles remain preserved in solid stone. It’s a small reminder of the Gorge’s more turbulent times. While Horsethief Butte’s geology is impressive, the surrounding landscape also holds deep cultural significance. For generations, Indigenous communities gathered along this stretch of the Columbia River to fish, trade and build connections. The river was an important center of life and commerce for Native peoples long before modern highways crossed the region. Nearby, at the Horsethief Lake section of Columbia Hills Historical State Park, visitors can see preserved examples of Indigenous rock art. The Temani Pesh-Wa display features petroglyphs and pictographs that were removed from their original locations in the 1950s, before rising waters behind The Dalles Dam submerged those sites. The rock art was eventually placed on public display in 2003, preserving an important connection to the people who lived along the Columbia River. Visitors can explore the relocated rock art display on their own during daylight hours from April through October. The park also offers guided tours to Tsagaglalal, commonly known as “She Who Watches,” one of the region’s most significant Indigenous rock images. Those tours are available by advance reservation on Fridays and Saturdays at 9 a.m. from April through October. Access to the site is restricted to guided tours to help protect the culturally significant artwork. Back at the butte, the experience is a little more hands-on. Although the hiking distances are short, the terrain can be uneven, with loose rocks and sections that require careful footing. “Wear shoes that have a good grip. Take a walking stick if you can,” Sieglein advised. “Be careful on the loose rocks, but it’s nothing too crazy.” The scenery here is a dramatic departure from the evergreen forests and lush landscapes farther west in the Gorge. Instead, visitors are surrounded by open skies, dry hillsides and rugged basalt cliffs. It’s a different kind of Pacific Northwest beauty, and one that Sieglein says shouldn’t be overlooked. For her, the appeal goes beyond the geology or the views. “It renews your soul. It really does,” she said. Sometimes, a change of scenery is all you need. Reprinted, with respect, from KGW8
Reading Stories Written in the Rocks
Every geologist has a secret superpower: the ability to look at a cliffside or a pile of river rocks and read the ancient stories locked inside. But an even greater superpower is translating those stories into a tale so vivid that anyone can picture the world as it once was. On a recent field trip up the Klickitat River Canyon, we stopped in front of a roadside outcrop that holds a chapter of a truly cataclysmic story. Where the Ice Age Floods Ran Backward – Imagine a wall of water hundreds of feet high, thick with mud and carrying boulder-sized rocks, roaring down the Columbia River Gorge. As this massive torrent surged toward the Pacific, the deluge was so vast that it couldn’t fit within the main river channel. Instead, water violently backed up into every side canyon it passed—including the Klickitat River Canyon. Looking closely at this roadside cliff, you can see the clear evidence of this chaos: Layer 1: The Surge. A massive 6- to 10-foot-thick layer of jumbled mud and rounded boulders—debris carried by Ice Age Floods that slammed into the canyon as they surged up from the mainstem of the Columbia River. Layer 2: The Settling. A smooth, 1- to 2-foot layer of fine mud on top, settling out as the flood temporarily crested, possibly for days, as the flood waters continued to rampage through the Columbia Gorge, before the flood waters slowly drained back into the main Columbia River channel. Layer 3: The Repeat Performance. A second matching set of thick boulders and fine silt directly above the first—proof that this monstrous event happened more than once. Right at the top sits a third layer of mixed angular and rounded rock that could also mark a third flood that carried some much more local debris, or perhaps it marks a volcanic mudflow (a lahar) that raged down-canyon from nearby Mt. Adams sometime after the previous floods subsided. Unlocking the Flood Depth – How deep were these apocalyptic floods? The rocks hold some clues: 315 Feet Deep in the Canyon: The roadside outcrop described above sits at an elevation of ~330 feet—over 300 feet above the current bed of the Columbia River at the mouth of the Klickitat. To deposit these large boulders, the rampaging floodwaters had to run up the canyon to that elevation, at least 315 feet above the base of the main Columbia River at the Klickitat mouth. Over 600 Vertical Feet and 8.7 Miles Further Upriver: 8.7 miles further up the Klickitat, we spotted similar flood deposits sitting at an elevation of 630 feet, implying that that main flood flowing through the Columbia was at least 615 feet deep. A Record of an 800+Foot Deep Flood: Immediately across the Columbia River at Rowena Crest, a visible “trimline” scoured into the landscape suggests the absolute largest floods crested there at 840 feet in elevation—implying an astounding flood depth of roughly 825 feet. Because the narrow walls of the Klickitat Canyon created friction and drag against the invading water, the back-flooding in the side canyons like the Klickitat likely couldn’t reach the full height of the main river’s crest. But even considering that drag, standing next to these roadcuts and looking up, it is humbling to realize that thousands of years ago, you would have been standing hundreds of feet beneath a churning flood of mud-saturated water and transported rocks, some of them possibly from as far away as western Canada. Article by Lloyd DeKay (editing assist by Gemini )
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Gary Ford (1943 – 2026)
Members and the Board of Directors of the Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI) remember fondly our long-time leader, mentor, and friend, Dr. Gary Ford, and deeply mourn his passing. Gary left us peacefully at his home on June 4, 2026 after living a full life of service, curiosity, and dedication. Born in Illinois on May 20, 1943, Gary lived it with an infectious curiosity in a journey defined by service and a profound connection to the earth. After serving in the United States Air Force, he channeled his love for the environment into a Ph.D. in Soil Conservation at Montana State University. He went on to spend a meaningful career protecting America’s most iconic landscapes as a park ranger in Yellowstone National Park and later with the U.S. Forest Service. When Gary “retired,” he brought his leadership and wealth of knowledge to the Ice Age Floods Institute, first as President of the Cheney-Spokane Chapter (2009–2012), then taking the helm as Institute President from 2012 to 2026. Gary tirelessly shared and fully believed that the grand, cataclysmic geological history of the Pacific Northwest belonged to everyone. As a leader, Gary was defined by his extraordinary openness, thoughtfulness, and exceptional people management skills. He possessed a rare ability to harness a diverse Board of Directors, skillfully guiding a wide range of perspectives and building bridges toward a unified, shared vision. He was always eager to welcome new members, champion fresh ideas, support grassroots chapters, and spark a shared sense of wonder in anyone who would listen. His leadership wasn’t rigid or about titles; it was about fostering an open, collaborative community united by curiosity. Gary’s quiet strength, warmth, and gentle spirit left an indelible mark on his family, colleagues, and the landscape he spent his life protecting. Beyond his geological pursuits, Gary was a devoted family man who loved sharing adventures, laughter, and a good story. He is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara Ford; his daughter and son-in-law, Flavia and Matt Hildebrant; his grandsons, Aspen and Dylan Bergland; his sister, Luann Ford; and his cousin, Anna Belle Alshire. He famously passed his love of Star Wars down to his grandsons and was always ready with a perfectly timed Yoda quote to put life into perspective: “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.” In keeping with Gary’s wishes, no formal celebration of life will be held. Instead, his family will scatter his ashes in a place that held a special, enduring meaning to him.
GLM Chapter Adds to the “Route of the Rocks”
Members of the Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter recently placed two more rock markers on recreation trails located on Missoula hillsides. Both rocks were placed at 4200 feet elevation, the highest fill level of the Lake. The inscription contains IAFI’s name and logo, Glacial Lake Missoula, and the high-water elevation of 4200 feet. The rocks (known as #6 and #7) continue the “Route of the Rocks” project of previously placed rocks throughout the Missoula area. Most of the rocks are situated at 4200 feet. Missoula’s elevation is about 3200 feet, so trail users can imagine the valley completely submerged with only the highest surrounding hill tops sticking out. Number 6 is located on the Miller Trail which begins at the Little Park Creek Trailhead and parking lot, accessed via upper Miller Creek Road. Hiking distance is approximately 1.5 miles. Number 7 sits at 4200 feet on Marshall Mountain, a former ski area but now a park, in East Missoula. From the parking lot take the Easy Up Trail .6 mile to the rock. The rocks are either argillite or quartzite from the Belt Formation. An interactive trail map of the Missoula area can be found at https://missoulamaps-cityofmissoula.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/missoula-trails
NORM SMYERS, AUGUST 10, 1943-APRIL 1, 2026
Norm Smyers, 82, of Missoula, Montana, passed away at home on April 1, 2026. During the past 30 years Norm has been actively involved in the formation, direction and leadership of the Ice Age Floods Institute, and in his local Glacial Lake Missoula chapter, all of which gave him immeasurable satisfaction and pride. Born Norman Bernard Smyers and raised in Hawthorne, California, Norm loved the beach, raced his bicycle all over the South Bay area, hiked and explored the nearby mountains and deserts. He realized at a very young age that he wanted to be a geologist, a goal likely arising from family camp trips to the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada where landforms, rocks, and fossils captivated his curiosity. He graduated from California State College, Long Beach, followed by an MS in geology from CSU, San Diego, and much later, an MA in anthropology (his “retirement” degree) from University of Montana (always a lifelong learner). His career began with teaching high school science and math in Torrance, California, interspersed with several enjoyable summers working as a ranger/naturalist at Crater Lake National Park, Cape Perpetua/Siuslaw National Forest, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest/Inyo National Forest, and Bryce Canyon National Park. For thirty years, he held geologist positions with the US Geological Survey, US Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service in California, Nevada, Colorado and Montana. He also served on the Target Range Sewer and Water Board, participated in Five Valleys Audubon, and enjoyed cruising in his ’47 Ford and ’85 Corvette with local car clubs. On May 14, 2026, friends celebrated Norm’s life on the banks of the Clark Fork River, a remnant of Glacial Lake Missoula, where his ashes happily wafted, settled and mingled with the sediments. RIP Norm, your life and contributions are remembered fondly and with great respect for all you have done. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Cathryn, his companion dog Paco, and many friends and admirers.
Rehoming Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter
Our Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter home for many years at Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center is now officially closed as of May 18th for a huge renovation project. With that news, now begins the relocation of our chapter’s Education Dept. (i.e., Chapter Headquarters) to the Wells House. We will have our Presentation Area, Internet and Equipment ready in July in time for our August presentation, which is sure to be a reward for our patient Chapter members. The Wells House will provide a historic setting and venue although quaint. The Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center has long been a place where the history, culture, and creativity of our region come alive. Yet today’s visitors need more than the museum’s current facilities can provide—easier access, more engaging spaces, and opportunities to connect across generations and cultures. The “Branch Out” campaign is Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center’s answer to that need. By reimagining our campus with connected buildings, welcoming gathering areas, and interactive exhibits, we will create a destination that reflects the energy of our growing community and ensures these stories are preserved, shared, and celebrated for decades to come. Take a virtual fly-through of the new museum design. Relive the joy of the project groundbreaking event. Support the Museum & Cultural Center’s Branch Out building fund campaign. Donations will be matched until June 30th by the Wiedner Group. The Wells House has a long and varied history in Wenatchee. From its construction in 1909, it had been used as family residences, junior college girl’s dorms, administration offices, early classrooms and student activities. It was rescued from demolition and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, before being deeded to the Museum with the goal of preserving and maintaining it so that it can be used and enjoyed by the public, raise awareness of our valley’s history, and be an architectural asset that contributes to a sense of place and pride within our community.
A Landscape of Transitions
On a cool morning in late March 2026, a group of 16 curious field trip participants stood atop a scenic viewpoint in Richland, Washington looking out over the Pasco Basin, with the Yakima and Columbia Rivers silently flowing below. George Last, a local geologist and field trip leader for the Lake Lewis Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute, was explaining a sequence of geologic events that shaped the region surrounding the Tri-Cities. Massive lava flows filled the Columbia Basin with layers of basalt thousands of feet thick. The successive flows combined with tectonic forces uplifted and formed the anticlines along the local section of the Olympic-Wallowa Lineament – on clear display here as a chain of large rolling hills stretching from Rattlesnake Mountain to our northwest to the Horse Heaven Hills southeast of our vantage point. Ancestral rivers, responding to the changes in topography, changed courses across the landscape, cutting new routes towards the Pacific Ocean. Finally, a series of cataclysmic ice age floods roared in from its northerly source, backing up behind the natural constriction of Wallula Gap to form temporary Lake Lewis. The hilltop we occupied would have been completely overtopped by over 400 feet of debris-laden floodwaters. As we looked out onto this geologic foundation, a different landscape emerged in every direction. Our hilltop is capped by a community park. Below us, and along the hillsides of the looming anticlines nearby, the shrub-steppe slopes are blanketed with view-lot homes. Spreading out all around us is a fabric of roadways, housing developments, and commercial and industrial zones. Stretching out to the horizon are the irrigated fields, vineyards and orchards that have been an economic staple of the region since the early days of frontier settlement. Throughout the remainder of our field trip, this juxtaposition of human settlement and natural history is ever-present. A vacant lot, surrounded on three sides by a housing development, hosts an outcrop of the Ringold formation, deposited from the ancestral Columbia River or its tributaries between 3.4 and 8.5 million years ago. An 8.5 million year old basalt flow and Ice Age flood deposits ranging from 780,000 to 220,000 years old lay exposed at various abandoned quarries and borrow pits along our route. Unfortunately, several Ice Age Floods features, previously accessible, are now sequestered behind no trespassing signs or have been lost entirely to new construction. Many participants share stories of excavators uncovering a behemoth of a glacial erratic, to be methodically broken down by hydraulic hammer and hauled away to parts unknown. The final stop on the tour was the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site outside Kennewick, operated by the MCBONES Research Center Foundation. The site is an active paleontology dig of a Columbian Mammoth, buried in late Pleistocene Ice Age flood deposits and loess. While our guide explains the methodical process of documenting each discovery, tour participants gaze upon a half-buried mammoth bone. One day this fragment will be fully exhumed after resting high in the hills for 17,500 years. It is interesting to think that, like those long buried erratics, this nearly complete skeleton may never have been discovered if not for someone searching with a shovel. It is stories like MCBONES that remind us that amid all of the re-grading, paving, and backfilling, there are stories of discovery and preservation to be shared as well. Conservation and education organizations, in the Tri-Cities and other communities across the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, work tirelessly to preserve natural areas, establish trail networks, and erect educational markers calling attention to the wide variety of plants, animals and geologic features across the landscape. As development continues to expand across this region, the challenge lies in recognizing that the ground beneath our feet is not just a foundation for homes and infrastructure, but a record of deep geologic time and discovery. By fostering a balance between growth and preservation, and by supporting education, research, and access to these remarkable features, we ensure that the stories written in stone–from ancient lava flows to Ice Age floods–remain visible, accessible, and meaningful for generations to come. By John Young, Lake Lewis Chapter of Ice Age Floods Institute
Missoula Floods Feature – A Site of Mammoth Proportions
It has been well proven that the Missoula Floods greatly impacted central Washington and there are many examples of the magnitude of the floods, its reach, and dynamics. However, there is still debate on the number, size and timing and dating of these events. What is also less well known are some of the casualties of the floods. At least one feature is helping to tell the story of some of the last floods to grace the landscape. In 2015, a mammoth was discovered at Tonnemaker Hill Farm along the north edge of the Frenchman Hills in Grant County, Washington. Luke Tonnemaker was plowing up an alfalfa field when he made the discovery. Intensive study of the site was led by geologist George Last, paleontologist Bax Barton, local soil scientist and geologist Mark Amara, Gary Kleinknecht, education director, from the MCBONES Research Foundation, a volunteer excavation crew from MCBONES and the Tonnemaker family. The researchers coordinated with farm co-owners, Luke and his father, Kole Tonnemaker, and their wives Amanda and Sonia respectively, to professionally excavate, stabilize retrieved mammoth bones, identify as many bones as possible, and recreate the geology and history of the site. Mammoth remains are not that uncommon in Washington with several hundred animals discovered in the state, though fewer than 100 of those discoveries are located in eastern Washington. What is significant about this mammoth site is that it is one of the few finds that has received this much intensive study. Over 130 bones and bone fragments from a single Columbia mammoth were recovered with about 69 specimens identified. The animal was estimated to be between 25-30 years of age based on characteristics of its dentition, and it even lived with a damaged rib which had healed. George Last prepared diagram The presence of three distinct volcanic ash (tephra) layers and soil analyses suggests that at least four different Missoula flood event episodes are represented in the sediments beneath the mammoth bone bed. Dating of the site revealed that the animal post-dated identified Mount St Helens tephra eruptions that deposited ash in distinct horizons below the bones in water borne deposits. Dates associated with ash samples identified at WSU confirmed two of the layers correspond to Mount St. Helens S series while the topmost tephra shows some compositional variability but had similarities to the J or S series. Tephra ages ranged roughly from 14,000-16.000 years ago. Further dating through Utah State University was provided by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples which gave dates ranging from 16-19,000 years ago. Since the bones are above the highest tephra and OSL sampling sites, the find is definitely younger than 16,000 years ago and was on the edge of one of last Pleistocene Missoula floods slack water lakes to cover this part of Washington. These conclusions were corroborated by analyzing the stratigraphy of the site and describing the soil which confirmed environments of deposition. Since the bones were above the aforementioned tephra layers and OSL sampling locations, and are at the interface of apparent windblown silts and Missoula floods slackwater deposits, it is still unclear how and when the animal died. However, the co-location of the mammoth remains with apparent ice-rafted erratic cobbles and boulders in fine-grained Missoula flood sediments, supports interpretation that the mammoth could have been carried in and left behind by a late breaking Missoula flood. Alternatively, it could have become mired in the mud along the shoreline and/or was killed by predators or even died in a subsequent drier period. Still the intensive studies to date have shown that this is an area with unique geologic history, one that is still unfolding. The Tonnemaker family has the recovered bones on display at their farm store and annually, including 2026, hold tours of the mammoth site during the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival held in March each year. There are a variety of papers, poster presentations and articles published or defended at meetings held by the Northwest Scientific Association and Geological Society of America, and a final report of findings between 2016-2024, with summaries highlighted, is available for viewing at the farm. Article by Mark Amara, Geologist, IAFI Lower Grand Coulee Chapter
2025 IAFI YEAR-IN-REVIEW
We normally include a review of our past year’s activities in our January newsletter for our members and interested others, but that newsletter was just too overfull with other important news. Our 2025 Year-In-Review below was compiled January 30, 2026.This is our 9th year preparing a Year-in-Review report for you, our members. We appreciate your continued support, friendship and membership. INSTITUTE MEMBERSHIP – Our members provide most of our support and much of the reason for the various materials, activities and events we provide. In 1996, we started with 11 members. At the end of 2025, we have 583 members (446 memberships). Our members come from the following states: Washington (67%), Oregon (15%), Idaho (7%), Montana (5%) with smaller amounts from CA, NV, AZ, WY, TX, AK, NM and OK, Canada and Germany. INSTITUTE BOARD ACTIVITIES – IAFI work activities that occur at both the Institute Board of Director level and at the Chapter level generally benefit the entire organization. Listed below are some of these activities. The Board works closely with the National Park Service Program Manager for the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. We have a formal partnership agreement and work cooperatively to further the missions of both organizations. The Education Committee, in partnership with IAFL-NGT and Engaging Every Student, has developed a curriculum program for our 4 state region, “Ice Age Floods Detectives”, of 4 one-hour lesson plans focused on a 4th grade audience. The Education Committee also developed a K-12 Grant program to provide funding to teachers and students for field trips, lab supplies, and to provide funds for other ancillary needs that will enhance implementation of the curriculum. The Cheney-Spokane Chapter established a Student Research Grant program that covers the entire institute area. It recently awarded its first grant The Membership Committee created a Floods Photo of the Week program which provides photos of features throughout the four-state area for all our members. Our webmaster keeps the website (iafi.org) fresh and stimulating. He also, with support from the chapters, issues the Pleistocene Post Newsletter four times a year. Our Membership Manager provides quarterly reports on member/memberships for all chapters and the institute. She responds to membership queries, resolves problems and keeps records current. Our IAFI Treasurer works with our Certified Public Accountant who maintains all our financial records and provides monthly reports to the Board. Our IAFI Store Manager provides service to our members by stocking and processing orders for the most recent books, maps, etc related to the ice age floods. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING – This year the annual IAFI membership meeting and field trip was held hosted by the Columbia River Gorge Chapter and there. Approximately 146 people attended the event. Click here for a reflective review of the event. 2025 CHAPTER PROGRAMS – Outreach to inform and educate the public about the Ice Age Floods and their long-lasting impact on our area is a key part of the IAFI mission. Our local chapter programs are possibly the most effective way we meet this challenge. Three of the more important ways we help people learn about the Ice Age Floods are with lectures, field trips and hikes. LECTURES – In 2025 we had 37 lectures attended by over 1549 people. Many more people viewed lectures when they were posted on YouTube. FIELD TRIPS- In 2025 we conducted 22 field trips with 735 attendees. HIKES – In 2025 three chapters sponsored 7 hikes with 106 attendees. PRESENTATIONS TO K-12 STUDENTS Columbia River Gorge chapter – talk and 2 field trips for Hood River New School and a talk for Hood River Elementary 4th grade classes Cheney–Spokane Chapter – Jefferson Elementary School STEM Expo requested that the IAFICS Chapter staff an educational booth on the Ice Age floods. The booth was so popular with the kids and their parents that our chapter was asked to participate in a follow up at the Westview Elementary School STEM Expo. The IAFICS Chapter was contacted by Spokane City Councilman Zack Zappone, requesting a talk and short hike for the North Central Middle School. Lake Lewis Chapter – A number of members helped with education programs at The Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site (MCBONES) near Kennewick. Palouse Falls Chapter: talk and presentation to Pomeroy Home School. Lower Grand Coulee Chapter: Assisted with a presentation at the Ice Age Floods Fest at Dry Falls aimed at educating children on the Ice Age Floods story (350+ attendees). INVOLVEMENT WITH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND UNIVERSITIES Cheney–Spokane Chapter – Dr. Isaac Larsen (Univ. Massachusetts), accompanied by a graduate student, requested a three-day field trip to collect flood ice-rafted erratics and in-situ exposure for exposure dating of the glacial floods in the Spokane and Vantage areas. Drs. Jim O’Connor and Lydia Staich (USGS) requested a two-day research field trip to look at historical till and flood sites on the Spokane Indian Reservation southeastward to Reardan and Spokane-Mica area. All chapters routinely recruit knowledgeable speakers from universities or state/federal agencies to ensure we are presenting the most current scientific information to our members. PRESENTATIONS AT COMMUNITY EVENTS Cheney-Spokane Chapter – Great Outdoor Sports Expo requested that the IAFICS Chapter staff an educational booth on the Ice Age floods. Don Chadbourne and nine enthusiastic chapter volunteers manned the booth which had heavy traffic on both days. Over 100 people stopped by the booth to get information on our upcoming events and pick up brochures providing information on local flood features and the National Geologic Trail. For the second year the Spokane County Library System asked the Cheney-Spokane chapter to provide speakers for four library branches. All four talks filled the rooms. The Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge asked the chapter to staff a booth and lead a hike. Columbia River Gorge Chapter – Gorge History Museum talk. Nature Conservancy talk at Rowena Crest . Co-led a number of field trips sponsored by the Columbia Gorge Naturalist Program. Coeur Du Deluge Chapter – Again led programs for the Idaho Master Naturalists. Interviewed for Sandpoint Magazine (Summer 2025). Ellensburg Chapter: had information booths at two Ellensburg Farmers Markets. Spoke with about
Doug Huber – Key Puget Lobe Chapter Volunteer
Doug Huber has been an active member of the Puget Lobe Chapter of IAFI almost since its inception in 2007. For the past ten years, Doug has been the unseen hero of our chapter meetings, where he has ensured that the computer, audio, and projection systems were maintained and working as they should at the start of our meetings. In addition, Doug has served as our webmaster, updating the chapter webpage so that our members and members of other chapters alike had access to information on our field trips, meetings, and special events. Hats off to you, Doug, for your tireless efforts to help our chapter stay strong!